Gym's Ramblings: Sizing up Split

What will be one of the lasting impressions of our time in Croatia was a chance encounter with a band of black-clad men, in an Split alleyway, on the morning of November 2, 2017. We were hopelessly outnumbered. We would not leave this confrontation without having to reach for our wallets.

It wasn't sinister after all, it was a wonderful group of Croat men singing acapella and selling CDs on the side. Mrs. Gym and I bumped into the group of men in a domed area not far from the cathedral. There was about 10 of them singing away in Croatian and it sounded great, even though we couldn't understand a word. We liked their music so much..... we bought their CD. I'm sure we will pull it out and play it in our well-used CD player, at our next Croatian-themed party back home.

It had been a clear morning when we docked in Split, not far from Diocletian's Palace. Diocletian built the palace here in Split when he retired as Emperor of Rome. Of all the beautiful places in the Roman Empire he could have picked to retire in, he picked Split, Croatia. Today, Diocletian's Palace is said to be the world's best preserved Roman palace and it and the area around it, is a must-see. If it was good enough for a Roman Emperor, it was good enough for Gym.

We would explore the palace later that morning but first we traveled out away from the marina and into the suburbs. We were to tour the Mestrovic Gallery, located in a chichi residential area, west of the marina. To get there, we drove underneath Marjan Park, through the 870 meter-long Marjanski Tunnel. Ivan Metrovic's former home and workshop is now a museum, housing many of his greatest works. We checked out the gallery laid out on two massive floors inside the house and also found a number of sculptures in the very impressive front garden which faces the sea. The area around the gallery is comparable to many upscale, seaside neighbourhoods in North America but reminds me of most of the Oak Bay district in Victoria, British Columbia.

After checking out Mestrovic's artwork we headed back to the centre of town and walked along the picturesque promenade in front of Diocletian's Palace. The promenade is home to many seaside restaurants and shops, some of which are built into the base of the old palace. We entered the palace in the basement, through a classic roman arch that was part of the palace's foundation. There are shops there now between the arches but during the middle ages this space was used as a dump. When they cleaned out the garbage that had been thrown away over the centuries, they found some very well-preserved artifacts that are now on display in museums up above.

When we climbed out of the basement of the palace, we emerged near the cathedral. Much of what was around us was built on the "bones" of the original roman structure, renovated through the centuries, to fit the needs of the people of the day. The Cathedral of Saint Domnius is the oldest Catholic cathedral in the world that is still in use as such. It was actually built by the Romans as Diocletian's mausoleum. Ironically, after Diocletian, the early christian population turned it into a cathedral named after a Bishop of Dalmatia, that was martyred by Diocletian. It is small for a cathedral but impressive because of the mixture of classical and romanesque architectural styles.

After exploring Diocletian's Palace, we had lunch about 10 blocks away in a nice Croatian pub. It was fun to try 3 varietals of Croatian wine with our meal, that was served family-style in a cozy establishment, not too far from the marina. We walked back to the ship past a local beach where a large group of guys were playing some kind of water sport in the shallow water and other adults were supervising young waders who were still enjoying a warm Adriatic Sea. That evening we pulled out of the harbour and turned north as we passed the island of Solta. We would be in Venice in the morning.

Ivan Metrovic's self portrait. He was a very prolific
artist in several art forms.

Metrovic's pieta with his son as Jesus and himself as Mary. His wayward son's addictions and
his suicide had a profound impact on the artist. Some of the sorrow comes out in this work.

In the garden, a beautiful figure from antiquity

Metrovic's mansion which became his museum

strolling down the promenade in front of Diocletian's Palace

A Croatian feline friend

Entering the palace from the "basement"
where shops are snuggly situated
between the roman arches
that hold up the palace.

St. Domnius Bell Tower attached to the old Roman mausoleum of
Diocletian. You can see the juxtaposition of the classical Roman arches and the
Romanesque Tower added centuries later.

Roman art still survives in what used to be the palace but is now a warren of
museums, cafes and even some residences.

The Roman mausoleum looks nothing like a Catholic cathedral.

a Roman olive press in the bowels of the palace, now a museum

The St. Domnius Bell Tower dominates the old palace skyline.

The Crusafix hangs at the base of a grand Roman dome in St. Domnius.

The Cathedral is small but still very impressive

A public work of art by Ivan Metrovic in Jupiter's Temple,
(down a narrow alley from the cathedral). The early christians used the
temple for baptisms and Metrovic's statue is a likeness
of St. John the Baptist.